%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=gt19f9jam5dkb2i4j2mo7qs4%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.[[quoteright:330:[[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supergirl_distaff_6776_2281.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:330:The X-Chromosome marks the spot.]]

One common method used in creating a SpinOff is taking the main character of the show, creating an equivalent that's mostly the same except for being the opposite sex, and then packing the new character off to her own series. This allows the station or network to fill up extra space on the schedule with a known quantity, while (in theory) stretching its demographic to female viewers. This method is very popular among action-adventure series, which mostly appeal to young males. However, sometimes it can lead to a CounterpartComparison situation.

While heroes are usually the ones to get this kind of treatment, it's been happening more and more to villains too.

They're also the third kind of SpinOff, with a long-lost sister showing up or a new girlfriend brought in, only to repeat whatever circumstances gave the main character his powers/duties/what-have-you.

Just like how many female characters are defined by their relationship to the default or already established male character, many distaff counterparts are defined primarily by their relationship to the male counterpart. This can be shown through their visual properties, narrative connection, and occasionally promotional materials. They are often a wife or girlfriend, but can be a sister or friend to the male counterpart. Often, and especially if the characters in question are animals, the female character will have a bow on her head or other TertiarySexualCharacteristics defining her as female and to set her apart from the "default" male characters. In other words, the male character or characters may have little or no stereotypical masculinizing gender specifiers, but his or their distaff counterpart or counterparts will have stereotypical feminizing gender specifiers to mark them as female. If the distaff counterpart is a girlfriend, she is usually the LoveInterest to the male character.

A male character who goes through the GenderBender will find himself turned into his own Distaff Counterpart. The implications for the character, writers, and audience are left as an exercise for the reader.

NOTE: "Distaff" means "female". Therefore, the inverse of this (a male counterpart to an existing female character or AlwaysFemale trope) is technically and traditionally a '''Spear Counterpart''' (which was named for the spearhead-shaped end of the symbol of Mars that represents males. [[IThoughtItMeant You may also be thinking]] the "spear" [[FreudWasRight meant something else]]).

SECOND NOTE: A "distaff" is a spinning device, used with a spinning wheel and, even before that, with a spindle. More [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff here.]] TextileWorkIsFeminine; that's why it's used to symbolize femininity.

Usually tends to wear a GenderedOutfit.

Compare GenderFlip, which reverses roles based on gender, rather than cloning them. If a normally [[AlwaysFemale gender-]][[AlwaysMale specific]] trope is played on its opposite gender anyway, that's a GenderInvertedTrope (otherwise known as a rare male/female example). If they're fan-created, it's RuleSixtyThree. If this appeals to a fan fetish, it's a form of {{Fanservice}}. When you take this trope to its literal conclusion, you get an OppositeSexClone. See also ContrastingSequelMainCharacter.

The [[MillionToOneChance laws of probability]] and large numbers will in all likelihood turn this into TruthInTelevision eventually for most of us.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' -- ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Aphrodite A, Diana A and Minerva X]]''** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' -- ''[[Anime/GreatMazinger Venus A]]''*** Similarly, in the ''Manga/MazingerAngels'' manga (a spoof of ''Series/CharliesAngels'') the main characters are Sayaka, Jun, Hikaru and Maria, piloting Aphrodite A, Venus A, Diana A and Minerva X, respectively. It's like your usual {{Crossover}} blending ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', but GenderFlipped: the male pilots and their robots are nowhere to be seen, and the main characters are the female leads and robots.* [[Anime/GetterRobo Getter-1]] -- [[Anime/GetterRobo Getter Q]]** As well, [[Anime/GetterRobo Getter-2]] -- Getter Shou/Neo Getter-2* [[Manga/SoulEater Soul Eater (Manga)]]: The whole Spartoi group.-- When the group goes into [[spoiler:the Book of Eibon after Noah and Kido-kun, the first chapter, "Lust"]] turns the males female and vice versa. They then make comments on how odd they look, until a team of [[{{Nosebleed}} Female Succubus]] come and try to defeat them.* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has several:** Angemon/[=HolyAngemon=] -- Angewomon** Seraphimon -- Ophanimon** Devimon/[=NeoDevimon=] -- [=LadyDevimon=]** Daemon -- Lilithmon** Wizardmon -- Witchmon** Beelzebumon -- [=BelleStarrmon=]* ''DevilmanLady'' was spawned from ''{{Devilman}}'', although it evolved into its own strange series. Since that name kind of doesn't make much sense, the official English version of the anime is called ''The Devil Lady''.** This was at least partially the inspiration for ''{{Kinnikuman}} Lady'' - though in that case, it's an alternate universe where everyone is gender-flipped except Meat. Instead of being about the world's beefiest buffoon, it's about the world's ditziest bimbo. Joining the "stupid, inherently contradictory name" race is Kinnikuman Lady's bestest pal Terryman Girl.* In chapter 98 of ''Manga/AiKora'', Maeda runs into a girl named Chizuru who turns out to be a "parts lover" like him... and happens to think he has really sexy ''hands''.* ''AoiHouse'' = [[GirlsLove Uri]] [[YuriFan House]].* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Misa Amane (female) is Light's first blindly loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] with [[RedEyesTakeWarning shinigami eyes]]. Teru Mikami (male) is [[spoiler:Light's ''second'' blindly loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] with [[RedEyesTakeWarning shinigami eyes]] - complete with the exact same Death Note used by Misa!]]** The series itself has a distaff counterpart in ''Anime/HellGirl''.* ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' was originally created as a distaff counterpart to ''Series/WarriorOfLoveRainbowman''.* Manga/BlackJack = Ray, from the manga and anime series of the same name. * ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'' has an interesting InUniverse use. A series of {{stinger}} skits called ''High School Girls are Funky'' features Habara, Yanagi and Ikushima, three girls who look, act and talk remarkably like their male counterparts Tadakuni, Hidenori and Yoshitake, respectively.* Anime/CaptainHarlock has two within the works of creator Creator/LeijiMatsumoto. Fellow space pirate QueenEmeraldas has the same scar across her face while Captain Bainas (from ''Anime/{{Ozuma}}'') has the messy red hair. Both also happen to be badass captains who have a penchant for {{badass cape}}s.* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has TheHero Sena and ActionGirl Karin. Both were recruited initially against their will to join a football team. Both are considered the best in their specialty (running back and quarterback respectively) and both ApologisesALot with low self-esteem and being the NiceGuy / NiceGirl. The only thing really different about them is their gender and appearance.* While both are genderless, the Mewtwo in [[Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened the 16th Pokémon movie]] is more feminine than the more masculine one seen in [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the first one]]. It is also more of a pure hero, while the one in the Kanto movies was more of an AntiHero.* Flamenco Girl from ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco''. In a rare subversion, she's actually [[HypercompetentSidekick far more competent and effective than her male counterpart]].* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' has Momo Hinamori's NiceGirl to Hanataro Yamada's NiceGuy.* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'', while Nanoha and Fate get their own [[TheRival rivals]] in form of Vita and Signum, Yuuno and Arf get [[DistaffCounterpart Distaff/Spear Counterparts]] in form of Shamal and Zafira. Both Yuuno and Shamal are passive {{Barrier Warrior}}s, have similar abilites and similar roles and they have green magic colors.* ''CharsCounterattack'' has DarkActionGirl Rezun Schneider as the DistaffCounterpart to ''ZetaGundam'''s Yazan Gable. Both are [[TheBrute thuggish]] {{badass normal}}s who joined the military in order to legally kill as many people as possible and have no regard for TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]* The ''Terminator'' comic "End Game" has Jane Connor, which is apparently what you get if Sarah Connor gives birth in a hospital. The birth of Jane Connor apparently cuts the war against Skynet's timeline in half, with the humans winning earlier. * ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is the TropeCodifier. Although not the first female copy of an established hero (Mary Marvel and Bulletgirl preceded her), she has had the most longevity and the most incarnations, including her own movie. Despite this, DC never really seems to know what to do with her, and the character has never [[GrowingTheBeard found her niche]].** ComicBook/PowerGirl, being originally Supergirl's alternate universe counterpart before ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' brought her to the main DCU, is also a distaff counterpart of Superman. DC's done a better job of finding a niche for her.** In the New 52, a significant addition to Supergirl's RoguesGallery has the distinction of being the DistaffCounterpart to ''two'' major Superman foes- Reign has a very Doomsday-like origin[[note]]a SuperSoldier created on Krypton from an alien infant, GoneHorriblyRight[[/note]], and a very Zod-like personality[[note]]SmugSuper conquerer with a personal vendetta against the protagonist's family, deeply driven to make said protagonist submit to them[[/note]]. Incidentally, she basically presents herself as Kara's EvilCounterpart as well. * ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' featured several issues where the team recruited distaff counterparts from alternate dimensions.* Hawkgirl is a DistaffCounterpart of ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}. Hawkman has had five series, the longest of which ran for 49 issues. Hawkgirl then [[BreakoutCharacter took over the series]] for the final 17 issues.* Immensely common in comic books. The first one was probably Mary Marvel, spun off from DC's Captain Marvel in the 1940s, and it continues to the present day, with characters like ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}, ComicBook/SheHulk, ComicBook/SpiderWoman and Stargirl (both a female Star-Spangled Kid and a female Starman). Some of these are also {{Legacy Character}}s. They can also exist in {{Alternate Universe Fic}}s that are written by fans or {{Elseworlds}} published by the companies themselves, where different female characters receive the CallToAdventure in lieu of their male counterparts in the mainstream universes.** In comics, this is necessary for the purposes of trademark and copyright protection, since if the comic companies don't [[AshcanCopy publish the obvious derivative characters]] then others would be legally able to do so. One well-known example of a company losing a counterpart trademark is how one of Creator/DCComics's most famous characters is ComicBook/WonderWoman, but Creator/MarvelComics was able to secure the trademark to WonderMan. Creator/StanLee specifically mentions the Wonder Woman and Wonder Man trademarks as a reason why Marvel created Spider-Woman to secure rights to the Spider-Woman trademark.** Marvel tends to subvert the trope more than DC. *** Despite the similar name, Spider-Woman is not a spin-off of Spider-Man. She does not resemble Spider-Man, and the characters have nothing to do with each other. (Though, like all Marvel Universe characters, they occasionally cross paths.) *** Comicbook/MsMarvel, although starting as a distaff counterpart of [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]], has now taken the Captain Marvel title herself, and is more important to the Marvel universe than the original Captain Marvel ever was (making her more of a successor, rather than a spin-off). [Note that this is referring to Marvel's ''Captain Marvel'', not DC's ''Captain Marvel'' (which spawned the distaff counterpoint Mary Marvel, as mentioned above).]*** She-Hulk (the less-prominent cousin of the original Hulk) plays the trope straight, however.** ''Hawk and Dove'' started out with the protagonists (two brothers) as a SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan. They were replaced by a TomboyAndGirlyGirl (though the Girly Girl had been teaming up with the Manly Man since Post-Crisis - and, as of ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', they're [[StatusQuoIsGod back to that situation]]).** Some of the distaff counterparts are very obscure, like Element Girl, the female ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}}. She is mostly known for being saved by Death from a sad and lonely existence in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. Since then she has made another appearance outside of DC continuity in ''ComicBook/WednesdayComics''.[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Element_Girl#Wednesday_Comics]] The concept has since been recycled in the form of Element Woman, a new [[AffirmativeActionLegacy Korean American successor]] to Element Girl.** One particularly shameless example is Thor Girl, obviously a counterpart to [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. What makes it silly is that "Thor" isn't a superhero alias, it's just Thor's name. Putting "Girl" on the end of it is roughly equivalent to calling Supergirl "Clark Kent Girl" or Spider-Woman "Peter Parker Woman".*** And then Loki had to go and one-up this; he became his OWN DistaffCounterpart for awhile by stealing the reincarnation body intended for Sif.*** The new Thor in 2014 following ComicBook/OriginalSin is female...but because she wields Mjolnir and is worthy, she ''is'' Thor. Which is still confusing, since it's a name rather than a title.* Aquagirl, the female equivalent of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'s sidekick Aqualad.* Marvel has just one-upped itself. Not content to merely turn the Hulk's nemesis Thunderbolt Ross into a palette swapped EvilCounterpart of the Hulk -- ComicBook/RedHulk, aka Rulk -- they turned his daughter Betty into a Red She-Hulk, making her both a DistaffCounterpart of the Hulk's EvilCounterpart ''and'' an EvilCounterpart of the Hulk's DistaffCounterpart!* In ''TheUltimates'', there's the Giant-Woman Squad, an entire unit of female ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agents with costumes and abilities patterned after those of [[ComicBook/AntMan Giant-Man]].* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker has Comicbook/HarleyQuinn, while the Riddler had a short-lived female counterpart named Quelle.** Before Quelle, Riddler had two female associates named Query and Echo.* The graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Camelot 3000}}'' features Sir Tristan reincarnated as a woman, forcing him to re-examine his medieval views toward gender roles, especially since the feelings between him and Isolde, also reincarnated as a woman, are unchanged. Their enduring passion for each other ultimately transcends gender, and the two remain together.* Franchise/TheDCU now has a whole AlternateUniverse (Earth-11) made up of {{Distaff Counterpart}}s. All the superheroes there are [[GenderFlip Gender-Flipped]], including a berserk-with-testosterone "Wonder Man" who's a [[CaptainErsatz dead ringer]] for King Leonidas of ''[[ComicBook/ThreeHundred 300]]''.** It gets a bit confusing when you consider that Earth 11 features GenderFlip versions of characters that already HAVE Distaff Counterparts, or who already ARE distaff Counterparts. For example; [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superlad_(Earth-11) Superlad.]]** The ''Toys/AmeComiGirls'' universe features most of the primary hero roles in the hands of the usual female distaff counterparts. So Jesse Chambers is Franchise/TheFlash, Carrie Kelly is Comicbook/{{Robin}}, Natasha Irons is ComicBook/{{Steel}}, etc.* ''ComicBook/MetalMen'' Issue 32 features a story called "The Metal Women Blues", where the team gets jealous of Tin and Nameless and get their creator, Will Magnus, to create opposite sex counterparts for them. During the subsequent mission, a rift grows between the males (Gold, Iron, Lead, Tin, Mercury, and Platinum Man) and females (Gold Girl, Iron Girl, Lead Girl, Nameless, Mercury Girl, and Platinum).* In [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the '90s]], the producers of the ''Zorro'' comics introduced spin-off character Lady Rawhide, who, although sharing his quest for justice, was otherwise decidedly '''not''' a distaff counterpart. In the interest of being accurate to the Wild West setting, she was [[MostCommonSuperpower rather plain]] and wore a [[{{Stripperiffic}} demure, tasteful costume]]. Or not.* ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}, the daughter of Zatara. Rare case where the distaff counterpart completely overshadowed the original in terms of popularity.* ComicBook/SheHulk -- made shortly after a ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' sketch which showed a woman hulking out -- was a deliberate move by Marvel to ensure that a copyright for a female Hulk character was established.** There were also rumors at the time that CBS was planning on making a spin-off of the wildly successful Hulk TV series starring a female Hulk. At first Marvel assumed that they would automatically receive royalties from CBS should it happen. However, when Marvel moved to collect royalties from the ''Benny Hill'' sketch, Marvel's own lawyers told them they couldn't. Marvel realized that they wouldn't receive any royalties from CBS either, so they created She-Hulk.** The same is true for ComicBook/SpiderWoman who was created when Marvel found out that Creator/{{Filmation}} was going to create their own super heroine with that name.* Sharon Ventura aka Ms. Marvel II who became a female version of the Fantastic Four's Thing. She doesn't like the codename She-Thing.** The Comicbook/MarvelNOW ''[[Comicbook/FantasticFour FF]]'' series introduces Miss Thing, a young woman in a Thing costume.* Franchise/SpiderMan has had six different [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Spider-Women]] (Jessica Drew, the Ultimate Universe's Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Charlotte Witter and an AlternateUniverse Gwen Stacy) and two different [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Spider-Girls]] (May Parker and Anya Corazon).-->"All the ladies just want to be me, I guess."\\-- '''Spider-Man''', ''Incredible Hercules'' #139** Now there's Cindy Moon aka Silk, who could be seen as Spider-Man's [[AffirmativeActionLegacy Affirmative Action Distaff]]. * American Dream, in the ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' universe May Parker's ComicBook/SpiderGirl comes from, is a distaff Captain America. A little more than half of the heroes in this 'verse are heroines, in fact.** On the subject of Captain America distaffs, Dani Cage (the daughter of LukeCage and JessicaJones) is the new Captain America in ''Ultron Forever'', while a woman named Roberta Mendez is the new Captain America in the {{Marvel 2099}} timeline. ** A villainous example from ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' is Magneta, a female version of SelfDemonstrating/{{Magneto}} with her own Sisterhood of Evil Mutants. And then there's [[PsychoElectro Aftershock]], the daughter of Electro, an enemy of ComicBook/SpiderGirl who's picked up the feud their fathers had.** The Ladyhawk twins, who were inspired by (and wear costumes patterned after) ComicBook/TheFalcon.* Rikki Barnes started off as (essentially) the female version of Captain America's sidekick ComicBook/{{Bucky| Barnes}}.* Sunfire's little sister Sunpyre, who had a costume and powerset nearly identical to those of her brother.* Carrie Kelly, the Robin from ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns''. Stephanie "Spoiler" Brown's brief run as Robin may also count.* ComicBook/{{X23}}, the OppositeSexClone and daughter of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}.** She's this to {{ComicBook/Daken}} as well, possibly even more so than with her father.* Rachel Alves, the female partner from Creator/GregRucka's run on ComicBook/ThePunisher. She wears the exact same outfit as her male counterpart, with very little skin showing. [[spoiler:Rucka's run ended with Alves hauled off to prison after accidentally killing an innocent cop, and his concluding "War Zone" miniseries has Frank freeing her to carry on the mission in Los Angeles.]]* Tallulah Black from ''ComicBook/JonahHex''. Like Hex, she's a physically and mentally scarred individual with absolutely nothing to lose.* Several of ''Franchise/SpiderMan'''s villains have had this done to them. A female Vietnamese scientist was transformed into Quicksand (and ironically started out fighting ComicBook/TheMightyThor), Doctor Octopus has Lady Octopus as his girlfriend/student/successor, Kraven the Hunter's wife and daughter have taken up his mantle, Scorpia acquired superhuman powers and a mechanical tail similar to those used by the Scorpion, and among the several people who've taken up the mantle of Jack O' Lantern is Maguire "Maggie" Beck.** Not to mention newcomer Lady Stilt-Man. Who has since dropped the "Lady" despite remaining a lady.** Oddly enough, Lizard's distaff counterpart Komodo does double duty as both this and as a [[EvilCounterpart good counterpart]].** The Comicbook/{{Venom}} symbiote once took a female host, known as She-Venom. A clone of the symbiote has had two hosts, both female - one called She-Venom (again) and one called Mania.* Namora and Namorita to Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner. All [[HalfHumanHybrid half-human and half-Atlantean]], part of the Atlantean minority of being born pink skinned (although Namorita would later develop blue skin), with FlyingBrick power set, raised within the Atlantean royal family and more importantly all known more for their connections to other hero groups than their solo adventures.* Miss Martian to ComicBook/MartianManhunter. Notable in being one of the few superheroine distaff counterparts whose costume covers ''more'' than the male version; Miss Martian wears a ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' style outfit, which covers quite a bit more than "two leather straps and a speedo." In personality she started as pretty much an {{Expy}} of the animated ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' Starfire.* On the subject of distaff counterparts with a more concealing costume: Bombshell to ComicBook/CaptainAtom. Bombshell wears a t-shirt and trousers, while Captain Atom is effectively naked.* Natasha Irons started off as the replacement ComicBook/{{Steel}} when her uncle John took a break from his PoweredArmor. She ended up changing her CodeName to Vaporlock after gaining her own powers.* So you know SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}? There's also a female Deadpool in another universe. Named Wanda Wilson, her official name in her timeline is Deadpool as well. But she's also called Lady Deadpool, in the same way that "Zombie Deadpool's Head" is called Headpool.** In one issue, Deadpool was being coerced into joining a team of Canadian superheroes. First came the hockey-themed Puckman. Then, there was... [[IncrediblyLamePun Ms. Puckman]].* ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} was introduced as a distaff for Batman back in 1956 (as well as to quell some vicious rumors circulating about [[HoYay Batman and his young ward]]), serving as a [[TheChick feminine counterpart]] to his crime-fighting adventures (using "feminine intuition" and having cosmetic-themed gadgetry, for example). When she was re-introduced in 2007's ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' and given the lead role in ''Detective Comics'' her personality and history were updated. The ''Cutter'' arc of ''Detective Comics'' goes into an explicit examination of the parallels between the two characters, with alternating pages (And sometimes even alternating ''panels'') following both characters as they each tracked a separate criminal (eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:the same criminal, but the Batman scenes were about five years earlier]]), each one going through the same motions, victories and setbacks as the other.* GreenArrow's KidSidekick Emiko Queen is one for Batman's KidSidekick {{Robin}}, specifically the Damian Wayne version. Mixed-race child of one of the hero's enemies? Check. Raised from birth to be an assassin? Check. Violent and surly but [[DefrostingIceQueen slowly defrosting]] demeanor? Check. Acts [[WiseBeyondTheirYears much older than she actually is?]] Check. Desperately wants to [[LegacyHero one day succeed the hero and don their mantle?]] Check. {{Adorkable}}? Check.* For a brief period Polaris became this to SelfDemonstrating/{{Magneto}}, complete with a [[GenderedOutfit feminized]] [[http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/1133/81995-34640-polaris_super.jpg variant of his costume.]]* ComicBook/StrontiumDog -> Durham Red (whose first solo story was called "Strontium Bitch").* From ComicBook/TheBeano, ''[[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis The Menace]]'' -> Minnie The Minx.* Gamma Corps Black is a trio of Distaff Counterparts to Hulk villains. Aberration (Female Abomination), Axon (Female Zzazz) and Morass (Female Glob).** That first one is a little redundant, since the Gamma Corps proper already has Mess, a female counterpart to the Abomination.* {{Galactus}} now has a ''daughter'' called Galacta, who is essentially the same concept, if less powerful, [[PlanetEater pickier about her diet]], and considerably more adorable. Think ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' (same creator), but replace Emp's image issues with food issues and a daddy complex.* ''ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician'' had MasterOfDisguise The Clay Camel. His modus operandi (perfect disguises and a namesake CallingCard) was later co-opted by The Brass Monkey... who turned out to be his daughter.* The lead character of Creator/CrossGen's ''Sigil'' was a man called Samandahl Ray. Marvel's relaunch starred a girl named Samantha Ray.* Near the end of ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', Quantum ends up partnered with a female black lesbian version of Woody.* Spygirl is this to ''ComicBook/SpyBoy''.* NOW Comics ''Franchise/TheGreenHornet'' had a female Kato, who went on to become the Hornet-inspired Crimson Wasp.* The 2011 ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' was a woman named Alejandra.* ''ComicBook/TheDarkness'' universe has a triad of both Distaff and Spear Counterparts: The Darkness itself is a male entity in a male host and is diametrically opposed to the Angelus which is a female entity in a female host. In between the two is the ''Witchblade'', a male entity in a female host.* In the pages of ''Marvel Age Magazine'', Creator/FredHembeck introduced a Distaff Counterpart to Brother Voodoo, appropriately named Sister Voodoo.* The villain {{Thanos}} briefly created Terraxia the Terrible during his run in ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet, in an attempt to replace Death as his consort. Terraxia was an AmazonianBeauty female version of himself (she has the same purple skin, black empty eyes and wrinkled chin, as well as dresses in similar gold and blue). She apparently had all of his (non-Infinity Gauntlet) powers as well, including Thanos' strength, in that she was easily able to [[spoiler:slay Iron Man and Spider-Man.]]* For a while ComicBook/PepperPotts was a Distaff Counterpart to ComicBook/IronMan, under the name Rescue. While her armour was destroyed, she still has implanted repulsor-tech, giving her a few Iron Man-like powers.* It can get confusing when you realize that there are currently two ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'''s in the Marvel universe - the original, Clint Barton and his DistaffCounterpart Kate Bishop. The latter took up the mantle (later officially acknowledged by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica) as part of the ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' when the former was dead. When Clint [[DeathIsCheap came back]], he ended up acknowledging that Kate was the best archer he'd ever met and simply allowed her to keep the monicker, even when he went back to being Hawkeye himself.* In the SilverAge, Creator/DCComics had a character called [[http://matthewmccallumonline.com/dc_universe/images/johnny_dc.jpg Johnny DC]], who would tell kids about upcoming books. In ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'' this character gets reinvented as [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HKV9AW12gT0/TSE_kC8o8VI/AAAAAAAAGqE/PFuLeDWLKSU/s1600/897279-jonni_dc1_large.jpg Jonni DC]], Continuity Cop.* ''ComicBook/{{Noob}}'' has a couple of cases. ** One short story from earlier comics has a Coalition player who happens to be [[spoiler:Omega Zell's boss in real life]] turn out to be a StrawFeminist version of [[StrawMisogynist Omega Zell]] ; the fact even gets lampshading by Gaea. ** Couette started out as this to Sparadrap. While DivergentCharacterEvolution is on its way personality-wise, both remain interchangeable if one needs a an [[TheCutie adorable]], childish, StupidGood, semi-competent healer.* From the British Fleetway stable: ''Cor!!'' featured ''Ivor Lott and Tony Broke'', which was about a rich boy who was endlessly mean to his poor neighbour but inevitably got his comeuppance. ''Jackpot'' featured ''Milly O'Naire and Penny Less'', which was about a rich girl who was endlessly mean to her poor neighbour, but inevitably got her comeuppance. Both comics were ultimately merged into ''Buster'', where Milly and Penny were made co-stars in Ivor and Tony's strip.* Marvel "What The..." parody series milked the trope for all what's worth. A "Wolverina" appeared possibly even before X-23. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Fic]]* ''FanFic/ThirtyHs'' -- ''FanFic/MyImmortal'': Same CanonDefilement of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' universe, same blatant disregard for any sort of plot coherence. One has groinsaws, demonic astronauts, ThePowerOfRock, and gratuitous gore; the other has Wangst, vampires, MarySue, and CostumePorn.* Raven Child's ''Fanfic/TheSmurfetteVillage'' features a village full of Distaff Counterparts of the male Smurfs.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}} II'', a direct-to-video sequel, has Balto's daughter fulfilling this role.* Jessie is Woody's distaff counterpart in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''. {{Justified|Trope}} in that [[ShowWithinAShow "Woody's Round-Up"]], which was the show that their toy line was based on, was a show from around TheFifties, just before it became common to have a distaff counterpart.* ''Disney/BrotherBear 2'' has Anda and Kata, two "moosettes" that are distaff counterparts / {{love interest}}s for Rutt and Tuke. [[FridgeBrilliance This works especially well since their voice actors were on]] ''{{SCTV}}'' (respectively, Rutt and Tuke were voiced by Creator/RickMoranis and Dave Thomas, while Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara voiced Anda and Kata).* [[Disney/TheLionKing Scar -- Zira]].* ''Film/SpaceJam'' introduced a DistaffCounterpart for WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, Lola Bunny.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* ''Film/TheNextKarateKid'', featuring a then-unknown Hilary Swank.* The T-X or "Terminatrix" in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' is a female shaped terminator.* ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'': There is a recurring female character, a friend of Shaun's named Yvonne, that is a sort of parallel universe version of Shaun. A scene where the two, along with their respective survivors, meet in someone's backyard [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWw9vE39IGc is one of the film's highlights.]] At the end of the movie [[spoiler:She appears with the British Army and saves Shaun and Liz, who are alone and have been cornered by zombies; her party's fate is assumed to have been much happier than Shaun]]'s.* There is a Soviet movie called "My Dearly Beloved Detective", featuring two female detectives named Holmes and Watson. The male ones are fictional in the movie.* ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' -- ''Film/TheHouseBunny''* In ''Film/LethalWeapon'''s third installment, Lorna Cole is very much the female Riggs.* A person wrongly convicted of murdering their spouse, escaping from custody, determined to track down those responsible, pursued--and eventually aided--by an equally determined lawman played by Creator/TommyLeeJones? No, not [[Film/TheFugitive Richard Kimble]]. [[Film/DoubleJeopardy Libby Parsons]]. The filmmakers tried to jazz it up by having the spouse in question having faked his death and having Libby escape from parole rather than prison, but viewers and critics weren't fooled. There's a reason ''Film/DoubleJeopardy'' is referred to as "The Female Fugitive", to the point where people genuinely needed to be reminded that it was ''not'' another sequel.* ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'', the sequel to ''TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', introduces the SAL 9000 computer -- apparently identical to HAL 9000 but with a female voice and a blue "eye" instead of a red one.* ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrdgQV9xxUM Reservoir Cats]]'' (Not to be confused with the WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow parody of the same name) is a remake of ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' with all the male characters replaced with female ones.* ''Film/SupermanII'' used Superman's mother Lara as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to his father Jor-El in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' because the producers didn't want to pay Marlon Brando the amount of money he was asking for to use footage that had already been filmed since Superman I and Superman II were originally filmed back-to-back.* Lady Deathstrike to Wolverine in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', having an adamantium skeleton like he does and showing what he could have been if he hadn't escaped from Stryker.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' -- ''Literature/NancyDrew''* ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'': ''Comicbook/RedSonja'' is commonly treated as this. However, ''Literature/JirelOfJoiry'' predates her.* ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' -- Worrals of the W.A.A.F.* Cora, Chick Carter's female cousin, aided Chick Carter and Nick Carter (Nick Carter adopted Chick).* Pat Savage, cousin of Franchise/DocSavage.* ''Literature/{{Eisenhorn}}'' -- By Creator/DanAbnett of TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} brings us Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, a moderately powered Psyker who falls for one Alizebeth Bequin. Alizebeth is a "Blank" who not only cancels out his powers, but is difficult for him to be around as it causes him pain. Never the less they fall in love.** Relevant in that she forms an organization of blanks called the Distaff.* ''Literature/MrMen'' -- Little Misses. In some cases, they are explicitly stated to be the sisters of the corresponding Mr Men. Specific ones include:** Mr Happy -- Little Miss Sunshine** Mr Chatterbox -- Little Miss Chatterbox** Mr Greedy -- Little Miss Greedy (originally Little Miss Plump)** Mr Noisy -- Little Miss Loud** Mr Small -- Little Miss Tiny** Mr Uppity -- Little Miss Splendid** Mr Tidy -- Little Miss Neat** Mr Clever -- Little Miss Brainy** Mr Bump -- Little Miss Whoops** Mr Busy -- Little Miss Busy** Mr Rush -- Little Miss Quick** Mr Impossible -- Little Miss Magic** Mr Quiet -- Little Miss Shy* ''Angie's First Case'' is about Angie Zane, the distaff to Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown, written by the same author. It didn't go over so well with readers.* ''Jane Carver Of Waar'', an AffectionateParody of ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'', with 21st century sensibilities.* Jill Chill, in ''Jill Chill and the Baron of Glacier Mountain'' by Ed [=McCray=], is a distaff counterpart to JackFrost.* The Iron Sister to The Silent Brothers in ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments''.* In ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'': ** The Sisterhood of Saint Evahlyn and [[spoiler:Sisters of Saint Kody]] to Brotherhood of Saint Zherneau. All of them are preservers of Mankind's past history, all of them have went into hiding during the War of the Fallen and all have founders that were more that they let on.** [[spoiler:Nimue Chwaeriau]] to Merlin Athrawes, as both are [[spoiler:derived from original Nimue Alban]].** Aivah Pahrsahn/Nynian Rychtair to Nahrmahn Baytz - a MagnificentBitch and MagnificentBastard.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* ''Series/TwentyFour''. Jack Bauer--Renee Walker.** ''24: Live Another Day'': Jack Bauer--Kate Morgan, and Chloe O'Brien--Jordan Reed.* The Malcolm in the Middle episode "If boys were girls" features Lois' fantasies about how her life would be different if Dewey, Reese, Malcolm, and Francis were instead Daisy, Renee, Mallory, and Frances.* ''TheSoup'' -- ''The Dish''* ''TheSixMillionDollarMan'' -- ''Series/TheBionicWoman''** In Germany it was even ''called'' ''[[Series/TheBionicWoman The Seven Million Dollar Woman]]''.* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' -- ''Series/{{Angel}}''. A rare example of a show about a female getting a male spin-off.* ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' -- ''Series/TheGirlFromUNCLE''.* ''[[Series/QueerEye Queer Eye for the Straight Guy]]'' -- ''Queer Eye for the Straight Girl'' replaced five gay guys with three gay guys and a lesbian and a Straight Guy with a Straight Girl. On ''Straight Girl'', Robbie (aside from being adorable) would frequently model the women's clothing.** Far more interesting was ''Straight Plan for the Gay Man''.* ''Series/ICarly'': Dave and Fleck are the male versions of Carly and Sam respectively.* A couple of years after ''TheGreatestAmericanHero'' ended, there was an attempted revival in which cranky FBI agent Bill was paired up with a new "Greatest American Heroine" in the form of a chirpy, flakey, relentlessly optimistic young teacher with EightiesHair who was something of a GeniusDitz.* ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'' -- ''Highlander: The Raven''* ''Series/DoctorWho'':** Romana was a female Time Lord who was every bit as clever as the Doctor (although inexperienced). This especially applies to the Romana II version, who is introduced wearing an exact copy of the Fourth Doctor's outfit (and later switching it for a fitting, pink version), has her own sonic screwdriver, and often takes the plot role that the Doctor would usually take (most obviously in "The Horns of Nimon").** The Rani was also, basically, a female version of the Master.** The novelisation of "Shada" has Romana make a throwaway line suggesting she'd encountered the female equivalent of the Meddling Monk - "the Interfering Nun".** River Song comes across as somewhat of a female version of the Doctor. She travels through time having adventures, has a mysterious past and snarks a lot. [[spoiler: She can also regenerate and has had several incarnations.]] The only real difference between them is that, while [[TechnicalPacifist the Doctor]] carries a sonic screwdriver, River carries a gun.** The {{Franchise/Doctor Who Expanded Universe}} gives us {{Franchise/Iris Wildthyme}}, a Time Lady who travels through time in a red bus that's smaller on the inside. In one of the books she blatantly introduces herself as being a feminist reimagining of the Doctor. She's also shown to be very working class, to contrast with the Doctor who is usually upper class.* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' -- ''Series/MrsColumbo'', which blatantly ignored ''Columbo'''s continuity, forcing the producers to change Kate Columbo's name, background, and even the show's name before it got cancelled after one season. In a later episode of ''Columbo'', he refers to a young woman [[DisContinuityNod running around pretending to be his wife]].* ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' -- ''AshesToAshes''* ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' has Kamen Rider Siren, the girlfriend of Kamen Rider Wing Knight, who's got the same kind of personality and also kicks a lot of butt. In the original Japanese version, ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'', Siren was actually called "Femme" and fell more under TheSmurfettePrinciple. Among other things, ''Dragon Knight'' expanded the character's role; Femme was only around for a single AlternateContinuity movie, and she died at the end of it.** Before all this, Series/KamenRiderStronger partnered up with Tackle, a girl who had likewise been cybernetically augmented by the series' villains. She was never called a Kamen Rider, which remained a sore point with fans for years and required various justifications over the years[[note]]The AlternateContinuity manga ''Manga/KamenRiderSpirits'' suggests that Stronger wanted her to rest in peace as a normal person and not as a warrior.[[/note]]*** ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', already reminiscent of ''Stronger'' in many ways, carried the {{Homage}} further in one of the stage shows by introducing Kamen Rider Lady, effectively a modernized version of Tackle; her names derives from her theme insect being the ladybug.** TheMovie for ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' introduced Kamen Rider Kiva-la. While her civilian identity, Natsumi Hikari, was indigenous to the Decade canon, Kiva-la is part of ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'', this she kinda doubles up as a Distaff for both Decade ''and'' Kiva.** ''Movie Wars Megamax'', the {{Crossover}} between ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' and ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'', introduces Kamen Rider Nadeshiko as a female version of Fourze. This instance is justified, as Nadeshiko is an alien [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Shapeshifter]] who learns by imitating; it copied a real high school girl, then after witnessing Fourze transform it copies his TransformationTrinket so it can help out.* ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' -- ''XenaWarriorPrincess''** Iolaus -- Gabrielle** Spoofed/referenced in ''{{Entourage}}'', where Johnny Drama was a supporting character in a Hercules-esque show, which got completely overshadowed by its female-centric spin-off.* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' -- ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Boomer becomes Sharon "Boomer" Valeri, Starbuck becomes Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Commander Cain becomes Admiral Helena Cain. There's also a female president, but she succeeds the late (male) President Adar, who was also in the original series.* T'Pol from ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' is this for Spock from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.* Dr. Pulaski from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was an attempt to create a female version of "Bones" [=McCoy=] from [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original series]]. Pulaski's cold abrasiveness (with none of Bones' passionate humanism to balance it out) made her an instant [[TheScrappy fan un-favorite]] and she was dumped after one season.* Spoofed in ''Series/LoisAndClark'', with Ultrawoman. No, ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' is NOT ''Ultrawoman: The Series''.* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Parallel Universe" introduced Deb Lister, Arlene Rimmer, Hilly and a [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics pink Skutter]]. The Cat was very disappointed to meet the Dog.* The titlar ''Time Warp Trio'' -- Joe, Fred, and Sam -- manage to have distaff counterparts in the form of their great-granddaughters from the future, cleverly named Jodie, Freddi, and Samantha.* ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'' -- ''Series/QueenOfSwords''. Not a part of the same continuity, but so similar to her male counterpart that Zorro Productions Inc. threatened legal action against the producers of the series.* ''IndianaJones'' -- ''Series/RelicHunter''. Unrelated continuity, but even the producers/actors refer to it as a "female Indiana Jones".** HannahMontana also features a fictional version called "Indiana Joannie"* A rare example of this happening in-universe occured on ''MarriedWithChildren'' when Kelly got a job as a gatekeeper at a local amusement park. She quickly turned into a DistaffCounterpart of her father Al, complete with her own horror stories involving fat women who come to the gate and generally miserable, bitter outlook on life.** Another example occurred in one episode where Peg watches a preview of "Psycho Mom", a female version of "Psycho Dad", Al's favorite TV show.* ''Series/JustShootMe'' had Finch meeting his distaff counterpart Betsy, which at first seems like an incredible coincidence. It turns out he stole her entire personality in college.* ''QueerAsFolk'' -- ''Series/TheLWord''* ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' finally got around to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'''s first-ever female Red Ranger, a distaff to team leader Takeru Shiba.** Beaten to the punch in 2005 with ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''. Giving us the first female Red Ranger in the entire history of either franchise, ironically given the masculine name of Charlie.** An unusual variant of this trope is present in ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'': Due to [[PowerCopying the series' gimmick]], the costumes and powers of various past Rangers who were male are now in use by female Rangers, complete with an appropriately gender-flipped costume.* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Invitations" Jerry falls for a woman who's the female version of him played by Creator/JaneaneGarofalo and they get engaged. Soon, though he realizes he can't be with someone like him because he hates himself so he breaks up with her.** She was about to do this herself. Probably the most mutual breakup of the series.* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' uses this trope a lot. Often as a quick way to PairTheSpares:** Toby -- Liberty** Damien -- Liberty** Sean -- Alex before she comes out** Kelly -- Emma** Spinner -- Jane, lampshaded by Marco* ''TheYoungOnes'' -- ''Girls On Top'' (Not directly connected, but also starring ex-''ComicStripPresents'' stars, and about four unlikeable stereotypes sharing a flat).* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': [[ArchnemesisDad Lionel Luthor]] -- [[EvilMatriarch Genevieve Teague]]* ''Series/HomeImprovement'' -- ''Last Man Standing''. In both shows, Creator/TimAllen plays the father to three kids. The difference is, in ''Last Man Standing'', all the kids are daughters instead of sons.* In ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', a spin-off of ''Series/DoctorWho'', Sarah has developed into a cool older character who fights aliens, and likes having younger people around to share in the magic of the universe; in other words, a female version of the Doctor.* Series/TheBachelor -- Series/TheBachelorette.* Series/TheBigBangTheory has Sheldon -- Amy Farrah Fowler. And before Amy's indroduction there was Sheldon -- Mrs. Hofstadter. While the latter acted almost exactly like Sheldon in every way, the former started off as such but the character grew to have her own personality and quirks to differentiate herself from Sheldon.* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'': Hannibal Lecter and Bedelia Du Maurier.* Ted and the Mother in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' share a similar appearance, being the NiceGuy / TeamDad and NiceGal / TeamMom of the group and having several quirks such as loving road side detours to unusual landmarks and wearing driving gloves.* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Recurring character CGIS Agent Abigail Borin is a HeroOfAnotherStory DistaffCounterpart of Agent Gibbs. They have many of the same mannerisms. It's [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] several times.* ''PersonOfInterest'' has Sameen Shaw as this to John Reese.* ''Series/BosomBuddies'' subverted the trope. Kip and Henry appeared as their "female" alter-egos, Buffy and Hildegarde, but their neighbours also knew them as Kip and Henry, Buffy and Hildy's brothers. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* The Primettes were conceived by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. as the distaff counterpart to the Primes. The bands were later renamed the Supremes and the Temptations.* "The Boy is Mine" (1998, Brandy ft. Monica) and "Same Girl" (2007, R. Kelly ft. Usher) are R&B songs about {{Love Triangle}}s.* The Music/TomTomClub is the (more or less) distaff counterpart/side project of Music/TalkingHeads.* Hole is the distaff counterpart to Music/{{Nirvana}}, to the point where their respective lead singers Music/CourtneyLove and Kurt Cobain were married to each other.* Music/JoniMitchell has been often described as 'the female Music/BobDylan', to which she famously replied: "Nobody would call him the male Joni Mitchell". She and Music/NeilYoung are eccentric Canadian singer-songwriters who found fame on the L.A. music scene.* Music/IronMaiden -- Iron Maidens, an all-female Music/IronMaiden tribute band.** If we're talking about heavy metal tribute bands, let us not forget [[HoYay Lez ]][[Music/LedZeppelin Zeppelin]].** Or Queen Diamond.** Or [[Music/{{Metallica}} Misstallica]].* The Bangles have said in many interviews that their original goal was to be this to Music/TheBeatles. Of course they didn't make nearly the same impact.* The Three Tenors had distaff counterparts, The Three Sopranos.* Music/LadyGaga and Music/AdamLambert are both incredibly talented (and incredibly campy) singers who make heavy use of synthesizers and (at least partly) go for shock value with performances. Not surprisingly both are known to be bisexual.* The female alternative quartet Drain STH was very much this to Alice In Chains when they first debuted in 1993.* [[KoreanPopMusic K-pop]] has a few. Typically they will be from the same company as their counterpart and said company or fans of the company will hype them up by using this trope. Examples include:** Music/TwoNEOne to Music/BigBang - both have edgy music perceived to have the most Western influence.** Music/GirlsGeneration to Music/SuperJunior, due to the many members and similar pop sound. The former were even originally going to be called the Super Girls.** Music/{{Fx}} to Music/SHINee for their focus on impressive and flashy choreographies.** AOA Black, the band part of Music/{{AOA}}, to well-known Korean bands Music/FTIsland or Music/CNBlue, depending on which fan you ask. Their company FNC seem to agree to either.* Examples from the '70–'80s funk scene:** [[Music/GeorgeClinton Parliament/Funkadelic]] begat the Brides of Funkenstein.** Rick James begat the Mary Jane Girls.** Music/{{Prince}}'s music factory cranked out a whole series of distaff Prince bands: Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Wendy and Lisa, Sheila E...* Fifth Harmony - Music/OneDirection, since they both have 5 members and they both started out on ''The X Factor'' (the former in the US version, the latter in the UK version).** That's not all, they both consisted of five solo artists who were put into a group after getting rejected, they both finished third, became the most successful act from their respective country's show, and they have similar shorthand names (5H and 1D).* Quite surprisingly, Chris Boltendahl of Grave Digger has one in Federica de Boni of White Skull, despite his voice being about as gruff as you can get without edging into death growl territory. Chris has even done guest vocals on a couple of White Skull songs, seemingly just to demonstrate how [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiDIwvApUZM uncannily similar]] their vocal styles are.* Critic Robert Christgau referred to Music/{{REM}} and Music/TenThousandManiacs as musical "kissing cousins". Michael Stipe performed some guest vocals on the latter's ''In My Tribe'' album, making this one more or less official.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]* ''[[Pinball/PinBot Pin*Bot]]'' and ''[[Pinball/TheMachineBrideOfPinBot Bride of Pin*Bot]]'' form a sequelized example.* In ''[[Pinball/BugsBunnysBirthdayBall Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball]]'', WesternAnimation/BugsBunny has Honey Bunny, while the Tasmanian Devil has She-Devil.* ''Pinball/{{Raven}}'' was meant to be one for [[Franchise/{{Rambo}} John Rambo,]] by way of TheMockbuster.* ''Pinball/SpyHunter'' pairs the male Agent GK with an unnamed female partner.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths and Legends]]* The [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian goddess]] Anput is largely a female aspect of her husband Anubis.* The incubus (a male demon which lies upon sleepers, in order to have sexual intercourse with them) has the succubus as a female counterpart. * Freyr and Freyja in Myth/NorseMythology. Their names are even the masculine and feminine form of the norse word for "''lord''".[[/folder]]

[[folder:New Media]]* For April Fools' Day 2009, everyone at [=OAFEnet=] [[http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=67878970&blogId=480523910 was replaced]] by their distaff counterpart -- except Artemis, whose male equivalent was "Apollo". The entire site was turned from blue to pink, and even one of their running jokes got gender-flipped for [[http://www.oafe.net/toons/quix/090401.php this cartoon.]]* [=ItsJustSomeRandomGuy=], creator of the ImAMarvelAndImADC series, has one in the form of his girlfriend, [=ItsJustSomeRandomGal=].* [[RuleSixtyThree Rule 63]] is an internet phenomenon in the vein of [[RuleThirtyFour Rule 34]] that any sufficiently popular male ''will'' be drawn as a hot female.** Including some characters, mostly Superheroes, who don't need to be drawn as such because, as mentioned earlier in comics, they already have a Distaff or Spear (yes, it's done to female characters as well) Counterpart.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]* Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/{{Raven}}'' was intended to be a Distaff Counterpart to Franchise/{{Rambo}}.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]* In the 1980s Rock n Wrestling Connection, [[Characters/WWEDivas Wendi Richter]] was the female version of Wrestling/HulkHogan.* Wrestling/{{GLOW}} could be argued to have many distaff counterparts to male wrestlers (Big Bad Mamma to Papa Shango perhaps) but the standout example was Justice, who was a distaff counterpart to Film/{{Shaft}}!* The Wrestling/{{new World order}} was so popular copycat organizations couldn't popup fast enough, including distaff counterparts such as the fWo in the Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA and the pWo in Women's Extreme Wrestling.* Wrestling/{{Lita}} was this to the [[Wrestling/MattHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Boyz]] (bonus points for being like this before they were teamed together, though they had offered to train her back when she was with Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels).* Wrestling/SaraDelRey in her initial {{face}} persona was this to Wrestling/BryanDanielson (she was trained by him). She used his [=LeBell=] Lock finisher, used "The Final Countdown" as her entrance music and called herself "The American Angel" (he was "The American Dragon").* Tiger Mask, specifically Wrestling/SatoruSayama, gave his blessing to a Joshi who became Tiger Dream [[spoiler:Candy Okutsu]]. * Wrestling/{{AAA}} gave one to Wrestling/LaParka, La Novia De La Parka [[spoiler:Sahori]]. Lucha Libre USA gave him one to in Rosetta Par-K. [[spoiler:Tracy Taylor, in case you're wondering]]* [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] unveiled one to aid him in his "[[SitcomArchNemesis feud]]" with Wrestling/CMPunk...''Shelirious''...who was his long term nemesis turned {{translator| buddy}}, Wrestling/DaizeeHaze.* Wrestling/{{Chikara}} shot for its own distaff counterpart in Kiryoku Pro, which also failed to catch on. The work of one Wrestling/MercedesMartinez caught the eye of Dave Prazak though, leading to a Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} invite.* IWA Mid-South owner Ian Rotten helped train one for his promotion, Mickie Knuckles.* On a promotional level, Pro Wrestling SUN was one to Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1. Sadly, it did not last but lived on in some of its wrestlers continuing to compete for Zero 1 as Team SUN.* While Wrestling/AjaKong had long been called a distaff counterpart to Wrestling/BigVanVader, Wrestling/{{WSU}} gave him an official one in Big Van ''Missy''. Mask, {{squash match}}, Vader Bomb and all.* Irregular Wrestling/{{WCW}} wrestler Shark Boy was so [[EnsembleDarkhorse unexpectedly popular]] he managed to get ''two'' distaff counterparts. [[Wrestling/DaffneyUnger Shark Girl]] and [[LegacyCharacter Shark Solo]].* Starting in 2009, Wrestling/MichelleMcCool became this to Wrestling/AJStyles when she started using the Styles Clash, which she renamed the Faith Breaker, as her finishing move. Later became more apparent when she and Wrestling/{{Layla}} started wearing hooded robes as part of their Wrestling/LayCool entrance. Oddly extends to RealLife as well, since both are devout Christians from the DeepSouth.* The Original Baka Gaijin of Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Mad Man Pondo, got one in REINA in the form of Crazy Mary Dobson, Miss Baka Gaijin.* Wrestling/{{AJLee}} to Wrestling/CMPunk, especially after AJ delivered a blistering WorkedShoot promo against the rest of the WWE Diva roster, with {{worked shoot}}s being the wheelhouse of CM Punk. It's no surprise that the two end up together in real life, and are now married.* In 1984, South African wrestler Steve Simpson came to the USA and formed the S&S Express with Joe Savoldi. In 2012 Nevaeh formed an alliance with Sassy Stephie and later Jessie Bell Smothers, which came to be known as the SNS Express.* After the SNS Express forced the breakup of the American Sweethearts on the WWN, Amber O'Neal claimed to have joined Wrestling/BulletClub and set out to be one to Doc Gallows.* Wrestling/{{Emma}} is not the distaff counterpart to Wrestling/SantinoMarella, but she did debut one to his cobra finishing move, [[PunnyName Ven-Emma]].* In the early nineteen nineties, the Montreal based International Championship Wrestling promotion had Sexy Team #1 and Sexy Team #2, who teamed up as the [[GratuitousEnglish imaginatively named]], "Sexy Team". In 2014, Canadian Dark Angel formed "El Sexy Team" in Wrestling/{{CMLL}} with Estrellita and Goya Kong.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]* The Women's National UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}} Association, which even started with a copycat logo (now [[DivergentCharacterEvolution updated to change]]) and has several teams with names inspired by the city's [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]] one - helped by them usually sharing the same owner:** Current team pairs: Washington Wizards/Mystics, Minnesota Timberwolves/Lynx, Phoenix Suns/Mercury, and San Antonio Spurs/Stars (Silver Stars before 2014). (Plus a coincidental: the Oklahoma City Thunder/Tulsa Shock. The Thunder were first to arrive in Oklahoma, moving from Seattle to OKC in 2008. The Shock moved from Detroit after the 2009 season.)** Current NBA team, moved WNBA team: Utah Jazz/Utah Starzz; the Starzz relocated to San Antonio (see above). Orlando Magic/Miracle; the Miracle are now known as the Connecticut Sun. Detroit Pistons/Shock (both named after car parts); as noted above, the Shock moved to Tulsa.** Current NBA team, defunct WNBA team: Houston Rockets/Comets, Miami Heat/Sol[[note]]Spanish for "sun"[[/note]], Portland Trail Blazers/Fire, Sacramento Kings/Monarchs.** ContinuitySnarl: Charlotte Hornets/Sting. The snarl involves the Hornets—that was the original version of the Hornets, which moved to New Orleans and eventually became the Pelicans. The expansion team that Charlotte later got, originally known as the Bobcats, eventually got the Hornets name back. The Sting folded in 2007. * Also relevant to basketball, netball was originally derived as a variant of early basketball[[note]]which, it might be noted, didn't originally have things like backboards or dribbling, as netball still doesn't[[/note]] deemed suitable or women to play (according to the accepted standards of the time)- though actual women's basketball in the modern sense evolved in parallel, itself having little variation in the men's game other than the size of the regulation ball.* In TheBeautifulGame, countless top-level men's clubs have counterpart women's clubs, usually wearing very similar kit. Sometimes, both clubs are merely sections within a much larger multi-sport club.[[note]]One example is FC Barcelona.[[/note]] In other cases, the women's club is underneath the umbrella of the men's club.[[note]]Two teams in the National Women's Soccer League in the States are run by UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer teams — Portland Thorns FC (Portland Timbers) and Houston Dash (Houston Dynamo).[[/note]] In still others, the women's club is technically independent, but has agreements to use the facilities and (often) trademarks of the men's club.[[note]]Examples include [[EnglishPremierLeague Arsenal]] in England and FC Kansas City (linked with MLS team Sporting Kansas City) in the States.[[/note]]* Golf has a few of its own (men's competitions listed first).** When it comes to major championships, all four of the men's majors have a direct women's counterpart:*** Masters/ANA Inspiration[[note]]Founded by entertainer Dinah Shore and originally bearing her name; most recently known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship[[/note]] – The tournaments are not run by the same body, but they are de facto counterparts. Both are the first majors of their respective seasons, and are held at the same course every year.[[note]](The Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, the Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California.)[[/note]] Most notably, both have a unique tradition surrounding the winner. The Masters winner is fitted with a special green jacket that identifies members of Augusta National, the club that runs the tournament. The winner of the Inspiration traditionally jumps into a pond behind the 18th green.*** [[CaptainObvious U.S. Open/U.S. Women's Open]] – Both are operated by the United States Golf Association, the governing body for golf in the U.S.*** The Open Championship/Women's British Open – Both are held in the UK, although they are not run by the same body.[[note]]The Open Championship is run by The R&A, which along with the USGA sets the rules of golf. The Women's British Open is run by the Ladies' Golf Union, the governing body for women's golf in Great Britain and Ireland.[[/note]]*** PGA Championship/Women's PGA Championship – Both are run by the PGA of America, the trade association for U.S. club professionals (which has been separate from the PGA Tour since 1968). Before the 2015 season, the Women's PGA Championship was known as the LPGA Championship and run by the (U.S.) LPGA, a trade association for women golf professionals (both club and touring).** The Tour Championship/CME Group Tour Championship (season-ending events, both with limited fields, on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour)** Ryder Cup/Solheim Cup (USA vs. Europe professional team competitions held every two years)** Walker Cup/Curtis Cup (USA vs. Great Britain & Ireland amateur team competitions held every two years)* In ice hockey, the Canadian Women's Hockey League have the Calgary Inferno, a counterpart of the NHL's Calgary Flames.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]* Bakugan--Zoobles* Dragon Flyz -- Sky Dancers* My Buddy -- Kid Sister. Their commercials were often combined into one... and they shared a ThemeTune.* {{Transformers}} -- Sweet Secrets.* Franchise/{{Digimon}} was originally an attempt to get boys into the whole {{Tamagotchi}} craze. Debatably, it ended up being even more popular.* M.U.S.C.L.E. -- C.U.T.I.E.* Kung Zhu -- Zhu Zhu Pets[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* The Franchise/SuperMarioBros -- TheGreatGianaSisters.** Also, [[VideoGame/MarioKart Toadette]] to Toad.* Take VideoGame/PacMan. [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics Add pink bow]]. Voila! Ms. [=PacMan=]!** Nonsense, that's just a crossdressing cheese. But if we also add a beauty mark...** The ad for one home video game rendition of Ms. Pac Man in the 1980s even had her singing, "Honey, don'tcha know / I'm more than Pac-Man with a bow!"* In a direct homage to ''Ms. Pac-Man'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/SplosionMan'' is ''VideoGame/MsSplosionMan''.* ''VideoGame/GrimGrimoire'' has [[CuteWitch Lillet]] and [[ArtificialHuman Amoretta]], who are female [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry Potter and Ron Weasley]], with additional LesYay.* In ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 2'', two female soldiers joined up with Marco and Tarma from the first game - [[{{Meganekko}} Fio]] and Eri. Aside from when Eri (and Tarma) were booted from the playable cast for ''Metal Slug 4'', they've remained in the series ever since. Their status as the female counterparts to the original duo is made explicit in ''Metal Slug 3'' - halfway through the final mission, the Mars People abduct your character, and their opposite-gender counterpart takes over for the rest of the level: Fio for Marco, Eri for Tarma, and vice versa in both cases.** And to confirm, without a doubt, that each female is the counterpart of her respective male version, comes the fact that if there's a second player that is playing with the respective female counterpart during the Mars People abduction. The other guy/chick will be the chosen replacement for your missing character.** Speaking of ''Metal Slug 4'', the characters that replaced Tarma and Eri in that game, Trevor and Nadia, were also {{Distaff Counterpart}}s.* Creator/HideoKojima has a fondness for recycling alternate universe versions of characters he had created previously, almost like actors. During the development of ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', he had a minor role for Solid Snake of ''Franchise/MetalGear'' - until, to shake things up, Kojima decided to make him a woman. Enter Meryl Silverburgh. When she was reintroduced in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', she was made into the niece ([[spoiler:actually daughter]]) of Colonel Campbell and underwent a little DivergentCharacterEvolution.** A more direct example would be Olga Gurlukovch, a nomadic commando encountered in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. She does ''not'' smoke (Nastasha already filled the chain-smoking Eastern European quota in ''[=MGS1=]''), but the rest of her character makeup in on-target: she packs nearly the same kind of pistol, utilizes cover and corner-learning during fights, isn't afraid to fight dirty to win (lobbing grenades, blocking Snake's line of sight with various objects, etc), and is quite scraggly for a solider. The difference is that Olga's a terrorist-for-hire, whereas Snake is a counterterrorist. [[spoiler:Olga later defects to Snake' camp at the cost of her own life, so she's not all bad.]]** Snake's ArchnemesisDad, Big Boss, got his own distaff counterpart in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' when he was assigned to kill his mentor, The Boss. As this game takes place in the 60's, The Boss originates the use of Snake's trademark sneaking suit and bandanna, and indirectly invented the "Sneaking Mission" during her hostage rescues in [=WWII=].* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'', Yuriko Omega is the Japanese Schoolgirl version of Yuri from ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2''.** Being that, while they are both given as having psychic powers, Yuri mind controls, while Yuriko tosses things around with her mind, this might not exactly qualify. Their personalities are also different.** Going back to the original games, Tanya is a GunsAkimbo ActionGirl version of the ''Tiberium'' series Commando.*** ''Yuri's Revenge'', in adding Yuri's faction as playable in skirmish mode, introduced the "Virus" unit, basically a female version of the British-exclusive Sniper. ''Red Alert 3'' continued that with the Soviet hero character Natasha. Additionally, ''Yuri's Revenge'' had Boris, the Soviet equivalent of Tanya with different strengths and weaknesses (can destroy buildings without having to reach them, but can't [or refuses to] swim).* [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 Harry Mason]] --> [[Film/SilentHill Rose DeSalva]]* The ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents''' female division, the Elite Beat Divas. Curiously, the Elite Beat Divas seems to be just three girls, while there are five of the agents (and their commander).* It's not a straight example, but the ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]]'' comics had Soontir Fel, best pilot in the Empire since Vader's death, part of an elite squadron, eventually getting shot with a Y-Wing's ion cannon, being captured, and switching sides to fly in Rogue Squadron. The first ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' game, the only one which didn't cling to the movies for characters and missions, had Kasan Moor, excellent pilot and rare female Imperial, part of an elite squadron, eventually getting shot with a Y-Wing's ion cannon, defecting, and switching sides to fly in Rogue Squadron. Her creator has said he was trying to make someone like Fel, and was a little sad to see that while Fel's role is always increasing, Kasan Moor lingers in the limbo of all [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars EU characters]] introduced in video games that don't involve [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]] or [[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]], and has been used exactly once since. In another video game. Though at least it's [[VideoGame/EmpireAtWar one from a different studio]], unlike every other character stuck in that limbo.* Guy from the original ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' ended up being [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replaced]] by his sister-in-law Maki in the first of the two SNES sequels. The game attempts to justify the fact Maki's fighting style is identical by establishing that Maki's father was also Guy's Bushin sensei. Later, she reappeared in ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium'' and was shoehorned into the portable versions of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 3'', where her fighting style was now a [[DivergentCharacterEvolution bit different]] from Guy's.* Sakura Kasugano and Karin Kanzuki from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' are essentially high school girl versions of Ryu and Ken. Though Karin has no direct connection to Ken (as opposed to Sakura, who is Ryu's apprentice and fellow {{Shotoclone}}), she has the same color palette (blond hair with a red outfit) and acts as TheRival to Sakura, much like Ken does to Ryu. * [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]] --> [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Lightning]].** Also for the series, Tiamat is both a DistaffCounterpart and EvilCounterpart to Bahamut following ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' tradition. This is especially noticeable in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', where Tiamat is a PaletteSwap of Bahamut and her Scan description indicates she underwent a FaceHeelTurn from being a Guardian Force.* ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' had two new [[MissionControl Navigators]] to accompany Alia, a mainstay since the fifth game. Sure enough, all three of them can be unlocked as playable characters, Distaff Counterparts of the three heroes, having similar playstyles: Alia --> X, Layer --> Zero, and Pallette --> Axl. All they need to think about now is a distaff counterpart to Sigma. Better yet, they ''shouldn't''.** There's always Lumine--no, wait. [[ViewerGenderConfusion False alarm]].** A cross-series example exists in Ring.EXE from the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork Battle Network]]'' GaidenGame ''Battle Chip Challenge'', who is, to date, the ''only'' [=NetNavi=] whose gender is the opposite of the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Robot Master]] they were based on. In case you didn't pick up on the hint, Ring Man was male.* The ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' video game series practically lives off of these. There's Jack --> Jill/Claire and Mark --> Chelsea--but don't worry, there's more.* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':** Humans:*** Red ↔ Leaf (''[=FireRed / LeafGreen=]'')*** Ethan ↔ Lyra (''[=HeartGold / SoulSilver=]'') / Kris (''Crystal'' only)*** Brendan ↔ May (''Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald'')*** Lucas ↔ Dawn (''Diamond / Pearl / Platinum'')*** Hilbert ↔ Hilda (''Black / White'')*** Nate ↔ Rosa (''Black 2'' / ''White 2'')*** Calem ↔ Serena (''X'' / ''Y'')*** Lunick ↔ Solana (''[[GaidenGame Pokemon Ranger]]'')*** Kellyn ↔ Kate (''Shadows of Almia'')*** Ben ↔ Summer (''Guardian Signs'')*** Volkner ↔ Elesa (''Diamond/Pearl/Platinum ↔ Black/White'')** Pokémon:*** Nidoran-M / Nidorino / Nidoking ↔ Nidoran-F / Nidorina / Nidoqueen*** Tauros ↔ Miltank*** Volbeat ↔ Illumise*** Latios ↔ Latias*** Gallade ↔ Gardevoir (although it is possible to get a male Gardevoir)*** Glalie ↔ Froslass (again, a female Glalie is possible)*** Darkrai ↔ Cresselia: {{Subverted|Trope}} in that Cresselia is female, but Darkrai is genderless (though always given a male voice and sometimes referred to with masculine pronouns).*** Braviary ↔ Mandibuzz*** Zekrom ↔ Reshiram: {{Averted|Trope}}. Intended to be the case according to WordOfGod (at least as far as appearance is concerned), but [[LarynxDissonance both were given male voices in the anime]].[[note]] For the record, both of them are technically genderless/unknown-gendered.[[/note]]*** Mega Mewtwo X ↔ Mega Mewtwo Y: {{Subverted|Trope}} in that both are alternate transformations of the same Pokémon, are genderless, and that a masculine Mega Mewtwo Y exists in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' gives us Big Daddy --> Big Sister.* In the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' franchise, we have Ingram and Viletta Pliskin who, in their original game ''Super Hero Operations'', started out as male and female versions of the same original player character. When their characters were later adapted into the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' series (and the subsequent ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration OG]]'' series) Banpresto worked around this by changing Viletta's last name to "Vadim" and explaining that she was actually [[spoiler:a [[GenderBender gender-bend]] clone of Ingram.]]** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsReversal'', you are allowed to choose between Raul and Fiona Gureden, the male and female versions of the same player character, respectively. In ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Original Generation}}s'', both of them are adapted into the story as HalfIdenticalTwins.** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGC'', Banpresto once again allowed the player to select a male or female version of the same character. This time around, both of them actually share the ''same exact'' name -- Akemi Akatsuki -- only with their given names spelled using different ''kanji''. Lord knows how Terada plans to work around ''that'' one if he ever decides to put them into the ''OG'' series.* [[Franchise/StarCraft Kerrigan]] -- [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Arthas]]** They start out, and remain for the respective campaigns that introduces them, a bit too different to be called distaff counterparts. Then they get a bit more things in common, and keep on picking similarities up over the course of the following campaigns and the expansions until this trope fits fairly well.* Parodied in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'', where the producer of the popular series "The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo-Olde Tokyo" creates "The Pink Princess: Warrior of Little Olde Tokyo", featuring basically the same plot and setting but with a girlier gimmick (even the star of Steel Samurai, Will Powers, plays the Pink Princess in the sequel).* The Protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has the Female Protagonist. She also has the male's Wild Card power.* [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Fenris]] -- [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Jack]]* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' has quite a few. [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 Sheeva]] is a female [[VideoGame/MortalKombat Goro]] and [[VideoGame/MortalKombat2 Kintaro]] (she was even known as She-Goro in early development before names were decided upon). [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 Chameleon has Khameleon]] and Sub-Zero has [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Frost]] (the latter is {{justified|Trope}} in that Frost was--[[DeceptiveDisciple for a time]]--Subby's handpicked pupil). [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Kira]] is said to be a female [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 Kano]], [[CompositeCharacter although she also draws inspiration from]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 Sonya]].* [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog]] -- Amy Rose* VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} is a female combination of [[Franchise/DevilMayCry Dante]] and [[VideoGame/GodHand Gene]]. Not surprising, considering Creator/HidekiKamiya directed the original ''Devil May Cry'' and many of his cohorts at Creator/PlatinumGames worked on ''God Hand'' when they were Clover Studios.* The ''VideoGame/WiiFit'' series has two generic fitness trainers, a man and a woman, that help players with exercises. Both of them also appear together in the fourth ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' game.* In ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'', Cherry and Diane are this to Sunny and Sun-02.* Lucina from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is deliberately this to [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia the original game]]'s Marth, including going by his name early on in the game.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]* The eponymous character from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' was ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen going]]'' to have one of these, but the creators decided against it. She can be seen in the background of at least one cartoon, though.* ''WebAnimation/GirlchanInParadise'' does this with maytag, a complete duplicate of Kenstar in appearance except obviously female (while still humorously poorly voiced by a man). Despite this, nobody except the viewer can make the appearance connection.-->'''Kenstar:''' Wow she's so pretty\\'''Yusuke:''' You're just saying that because she looks like ''(brief pause)'' a pretty girl!\\'''Kenstar:''' That would be why i said that.* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', villain Roman Torchwick eventually gains a sidekick named Neo, who wears a feminized version of his outfit with softer colors and wields a ParasolOfPain compared to his [[SwordCane Gun Cane]]. According to Creator/MontyOum, Neo's design was based on a female friend of his cosplaying as Roman.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]* Several non-canon ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' omake feature Piroko and m0h, gender-swapped versions of Piro and Miho based on their in-canon CrossPlayer game avatars.* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' features {{Distaff Counterpart}}s/{{Opposite Sex Clone}}s of the three protagonists, Problem Sleuth, Pickle Inspector, and Ace Dick, who live in the imaginary universe and which each briefly becomes during a "spiritual journey". Problem Sleuth gets Hysterical Dame, Pickle Inspector matches up to Nervous Broad, and Ace Dick gets... Ace Dick in a wig, because Ace's imagination isn't good enough to have an actual female alter-ego.* ''Webcomic/BoyMeetsBoy'' had an [[http://boymeetsboy.keenspot.com/d/20020401.html April Fool's comic]] which was basically this. Amusingly, the female counterparts in Girl Meets Girl appear to be [[http://boymeetsboy.keenspot.com/d/20020403.html deeper thinkers]] than their male originals.* ''NerfNow'' has female counterparts to every playable character in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.* In ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'', most of the characters have sisters who (except the Swedens and the Americas) are basically the same as their brothers. The only notable exception is France, where the default representative is female, and Brother France is officially her spear.* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', due to the existence of alternate universes, Elliot's counterpart in the Beta Universe is a female version of himself named Ellen (who is not Main Universe Ellen's counterpart), and Grace has a counterpart in the Alpha Universe named General Shade Tail. In the non-canon universes of the side strips, Tedd has a counterpart in Tess.* ''WebComic/DragonBallMultiverse'': The girls of U6 may or may not count.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* Played with by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic -- WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, as he's become a SissyVillain who has testosterone pills lying around while she's a TheLadette who doesn't even know what a ChickFlick is.* In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, Douchey [=McNitpick=] -- Hyper Fangirl. They're both {{anti role model}} {{Straw Fan}}s, just the former is aimed at misogynist fanboys and the latter at LovingAShadow fangirls.* Online web novel {{Literature/Pact}} has Rose , an alternate version of the protagonist Blake that exists only in mirrors and has power over them, and his closest ally. He and she speculate that she was created by their grandmother as a loophole in the mystical inheritance agreements that state that only a female grandchild will inherit the grandmother's manor, fortune, and impressive numbers of enemies. * ''WebVideo/TheyMadeMeWatchThis'' {{discussed|Trope}} this when he mentioned that the Nostalgia Critic hired the Nostalgia Chick so he wouldn't have to to review all the girlie stuff. Then when he mentioned getting his own counterpart, he realized she would instead get to review all the action flicks, and then realized that was already Creator/AllisonPregler.* Even [[MemeticMutation Internet memes]] have produced these. For example, the popular meme characters [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-steve Scumbag Steve]] and [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/good-guy-greg Good Guy Greg]] both have their own respective distaff counterparts, [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-girl-scumbag-stacy Scumbag Stacy]] and [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/good-girl-gina Good Girl Gina]].** Somewhat subverted by the fact that unlike the original male examples (which can involve {{Jerkass}} / NiceGuy activities in any type of situation), the female versions tend to focus primarily on sex and relationship topics, perhaps because [[ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet most Internet meme creators are male]]. In particular, the Good Girl Gina meme has been accused of UnfortunateImplications, as most of her "good deeds" are agreeing to performing various sexual favors as imagined by the male image creators. One Good Guy Greg image even [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/445526-good-girl-gina lampshaded this issue]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the essentially-immortal Starscream creates a squad of five clones which, as the female clone points out, are each based on an aspect of his personality: A suck-up, a coward, a pathological liar, an egomaniac, and the female clone. When Starscream asks her what part of him she's from, she simply states, [[YouDoNotWantToKnow "Don't ask."]]* In "Dr. Quym, Medicine Woman", the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers Venture Brothers]]'' meet female counterparts of the main cast in the jungle, including a violent hulking female bodyguard and a pair of twin sleuths.* We must not forget ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', whose distaff counterparts are Brittany and the Chipettes. The male chipmunks already made the jump to [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action]] [[TheMovie movie]], so the Chipettes naturally will appear in ''[[JustForPun The Squeakuel]]'', as a product of a development that stemmed from the first movie's [[TheStinger stinger]].* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' -- Ultra-Prison, with female counterparts for all the main cast. Strangely, there were no female counterparts for [[CreepyTwins the Twins...]] though this was probably for the better.* The newest incarnation of ''Winnie the Pooh'' from Disney features a six-year-old, redhaired tomboy named Darby, instead of Christopher Robin, though he's still in it.* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' --> ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower''. (Although they could hardly call her "She-Woman".)** The original spin-off was going to be He-Ro, an ancestor of He-Man, before eventually being dropped in favour of She-Ra. There was also talk of a He-Ro, son of He-Man, series in the mid 90s.* Gimpy of ''WesternAnimation/{{Undergrads}}'', whose online alias is G-Prime, has a Distaff Counterpart in SHE-Prime; she's also his rival/love interest. Ironically, they don't realize they live next to each other.* Dial Tone's feminization in some newer ''Franchise/GIJoe'' works.* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Penelope, the female version of Stewie.* WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom has a female [[CloningBlues clone]] who is pretty much this (albeit a younger one).* Terrence and Phillip, the Canadian comedy duo in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', have female counterparts in Katherine and Katie Queef whom they marry.* One ''[[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Fairly OddParents]]'' episode had a one-shot character in the form of [[http://fairlyoddparents.wikia.com/wiki/Kimmy Kimmy]], a female version of Timmy. She appears as Sanjay's date for the school dance in that episode (and [[HoYay the fact that she resembles Timmy]] probably explains why he asked her).** Timmy was his own distaff, named Timantha, in an earlier episode.* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' introduced another time squad with Tuddrussel's ex-wife who is very smart and actually competent and her robot partner being high tech and up to date and serious about his job.* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had an episode at a dance where Arnold showed up with his date who looked just like him only in a dress.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' Mr Scatterbrain and Mr Stubborn are Mr Men counterparts to their Little Miss book counterparts.* ''WesternAnimation/RatedAForAwesome'' - ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' (to an extent). Both series have male protagonists, but ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has more female involvement, including female focused episodes and merchandise.* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' has The Newmans, the musical rivals of the titular band. Three fourths of this band are female versions of the male Grojband members, whilst the remaining fourth, Larry, is a male version of Laney, the only female Grojband member.* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' there's Fionna to Finn and [[FemaleFelineMaleMutt Cake the cat to Jake the dog]].* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' have Clockwork Smurfette for Clockwork Smurf.* Orel's mutual crush Christina in ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' is this, while their respective family members are the same gender. Both puppets even have the same head, but with different haircuts.* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' introduced Smoke, a female sidekick for Mirror Master, and Blaze, a female sidekick for Firefly. So far they're both {{Canon Foreigner}}s and have yet to appear in the actual DCUniverse.* In ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', Skeeter was the CanonForeigner {{tomboy}} to [[HollywoodNerd Scooter]].* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': Elise can be seen as a Distaff Counterpart to the protagonist, Dan. Both are [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], [[TheCynic cynical]], [[TheTrickster deceptive]] Determinators from [[AbusiveParents abusive families]] who are so vindictive that they can (and do) go to crazy lengths to seek revenge on whatever has wronged them. In addition, both are associated with [[ExtremeDoormat Chris]] to the extent that they serve as VitriolicBestBuds to him. Elise has admitted that she actually enjoys some of Dan's revenge schemes. She even does the SkywardScream whenever something angers her, and in one episode literally participates in Dan's opening scream. * WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa once fought Aunt Grandma, a woman who tried to act as a more practical and efficient replacement to him by simply giving kids gifts instead of taking them on outlandish adventures. This is because when she was a kid in the 90s, he took her on an adventure when she asked him to repair a tiny chipped-off piece on her baking soda volcano and [[NeverLiveItDown she got 2nd place in her science fair]], so years later she wants to run him out of business so other kids don't suffer the same.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Yes, there once was a YWCA (as well as an [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Alternate Religion Equivalent]], the YM'''H'''A[[note]] Hebrew[[/note]], and ''its'' DistaffCounterpart the YWHA). Eventually, as the meaning behind the acronym [[ObligatoryCorporateInitialism was forgotten]], the other versions were folded into the YMCA, which then dropped the obsolete parts of their name and became the Y.** Not entirely true for the YMHA and YWHA—they merged with one another, but not with the YMCA/YWCA. Most locations of those groups now call themselves [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Community_Center Jewish Community Centers]]. However, some locations under the JCC umbrella still call themselves the Y (or formally, "YM-YWHA"), with perhaps the most notable example being the famous 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.** According to TheOtherWiki, the YWCA organization is now called "World YWCA", it is independent from the YMCA and focuses more of its time now on social-services and mission-type work.*** The merging occurred at the local level: many local [=YWCAs=] are now affiliated with ''both'' YWCA USA (the American wing of World YWCA) and YMCA at the same time.* The Statue of Liberty was based on what the Colossus of Rhodes might have looked like as a woman, albeit much more modestly dressed. She is approximately the same height and wears a very similar crown to popular depictions of the Colossus.* The Girl Guides/Girl Scouts was set up as this for the Boy Scouts, after many girls expressed interest in joining the movement. Though (at least in the UK) the Scouts now accept girl members as well as boys, the Guides still remain as a distinct entity aimed at girls.[[/folder]]

!!Spear Counterparts

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime]]* Franchise/{{Digimon}} started off as the Spear Counterpart of {{Tamagotchi}}.* The title character of ''VampirePrincessMiyu'' has a Spear Counterpart in Tatsuhiko Shido from ''{{Nightwalker}}''.* ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru'' has a spear counterpart in ''GaKuenHeaven''.* Alois Trancy from BlackButler is a male FilleFatale.* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'', while Nanoha and Fate get their own [[TheRival rivals]] in form of Vita and Signum, Yuuno and Arf get [[DistaffCounterpart Distaff/Spear Counterparts]] in form of Shamal and Zafira. Arf and Zafira are both wolves who can transform into humanoids and are rivals, who handle their battles with GoodOldFisticuffs.* ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' has now started to become this for SuperSentai and KamenRider, often being promoted in magazines and at events alongside those shows.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* X-23, the Distaff Counterpart of {{Wolverine}}, has {{ComicBook/Daken}} as HER spear counterpart.* Superhero comics as a genre have been referred to as a Spear Counterpart to SoapOperas.** Nah: that would be ProfessionalWrestling.* Gamma Corps includes Griffin, a Spear Counterpart to Betty Ross' brief time as the Harpy.* Power Boy is superficially a Spear Counterpart of PowerGirl. He's actually a parody of all the unfortunate cliches of superheroine characterisation, by showing what they look like applied to a male character.* SquirrelGirl has Chipmunk Hunk. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]* ''Film/{{Clueless}}'' -- ''Film/{{Hitch}}''* ''Film/TheCraft'' -- ''Film/TheCovenant''. Stories centered on a group of teenage witches and a group of teenage warlocks, respectively.* According to the writers of ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Jafar, the film's BigBad, is essentially a male version of [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]. What makes those two villains similar is the fact that they both wield magic powers, they both wear long, flowing black robes, they both carry staffs in their arms, they both have birds for henchmen, and they both [[OneWingedAngel turn into]] [[ScaledUp reptilian monsters]] at the end of their respective films. Ironically, according to the show ''HouseOfMouse'', Maleficent actually ended up falling in love with [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hades]] of all people!** In fact, the whole film of Aladdin could be considered the Spear Counterpart to the Disney Princess films.** A similar thing happened with ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. Frollo is a spear counterpart of [[Disney/{{Cinderella}} Lady Tremaine]].* The Dagger Debs (later Jeezebels) for the Silver Daggers in ''Film/SwitchbladeSisters''.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': ** Brienne of Tarth -- Ser Loras Tyrell. Both are [[KnightInShiningArmor knights in shining armor]] who are introduced as winners of a tourney event, earning their victory with the aid of CombatPragmatism. They are heirs to their respective Houses, but they love Renly so much that they would rather dedicate their whole ''lives'' to serving him as a member of his Kingsguard. They are completely devastated after [[spoiler:Renly is slain]], becoming [[KnightInSourArmor knights in sour armor]], and both swear vengeance against Stannis. Although they end up with different masters, Loras and Brienne remain devoted to Renly in their own way, and have performed at least one act of [[spoiler:UndyingLoyalty]]. ** Queen Margaery Tyrell -- King Renly Baratheon. They both believe that the MachiavelliWasWrong approach to ruling is best, and as a consequence, they have earned a HundredPercentAdorationRating among the smallfolk (the Stormlands for Renly and King's Landing for Margaery). Renly's desire to be TheGoodKing and the effort he puts into being AFatherToHisMen mirrors Margaery's ambition to be TheHighQueen and her FriendToAllChildren charity work. They are both well-suited for court life, intelligent, responsible, good-looking and charming. Margaery isn't at all bothered by the fact that Renly is sleeping with her brother, and unlike most Westerosi noblemen, Renly doesn't mind that his bride may not be a virgin. They both love Loras very much (in different ways, of course!).** Sansa Stark -- Ser Loras Tyrell. Although neither of them are fully aware of the other's suffering in "The Climb," Sansa (an aspiring PrincessClassic) and Loras (an aspiring KnightInShiningArmour) have learned the hard way that life isn't a fairy tale. Both of them carried romantic ideals, believing that they would "live HappilyEverAfter" with their beloved Baratheon ("PrinceCharming" Joffrey for Sansa, "TheGoodKing" Renly for Loras). [[spoiler: Both have been crushed emotionally when their dreams transformed into nightmares (Joffrey turned out to be a sadistic psychopath and executed Sansa's father, while Renly was murdered not long after Loras pushed him to become king).]] Both have called Joffrey a monster.* An unusual variant of this trope is present in ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'': Due to [[PowerCopying the series' gimmick]], the costumes and powers of various past Rangers who were female are now in use by male Rangers, complete with an appropriately gender-flipped costume.* ''Starter Wife'' -- ''Happy Endings''* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (majority female cast) -- ''Series/{{Angel}}'' (majority male cast)* ''SexAndTheCity'' -- ''Big Shots'', rare case where a show with a female cast gets a male version.** ''{{Entourage}}'' has also been referred to as the male counterpart, with the martinis switched out for joints.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths and Legends]]* The mythological male equivalent of mermaids are the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merman Mermen]].* The male equivalent of the [[OneGenderRace Amazons]] are the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargareans Gargareans]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* Celtic Thunder is the Spear Counterpart to the popular CelticWoman.* Madonna -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRx3Ab7LqSI Mandonna]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]* DykesToWatchOutFor: The Indelible Alison Bechdel included a strip called "Guys to Watch Out For" which showed each character's Spear Counterpart. In particular, Mo is being inaugurated as president of the United States.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]* While in Wrestling/{{TNA}}, Wrestling/JamesStorm has basically been a spear counterpart to Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}}, specifically when she was Miss Tennessee but also her own role during her TNA runs to a lesser extent. On the flip side. Jacqueline and ODB together are almost a distaff counterpart to James Storm's team, America's Most Wanted.* After Wrestling/CodyRhodes was "disfigured" by Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio| Jr}}(it was Cody's own fault and he looked exactly the same afterwards), he began forcing all the ugly people (anyone he could get his hands on) to wear paper bag masks, making him a one man spear counterpart to Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople.* No Wrestling/BellaTwins have worked for the Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA as far as we know, however, Vendetta Pro and Ultra Championship Wrestling Zero have had matches featuring the Fella Twins. Though mostly subverted in that Tommy Puur and Chip are generally baby {{faces}} and thus don't [[TagTeamTwins switch.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]* The ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' toyline was created in 1992 as a Spear Counterpart of the ''Toys/PollyPocket'' toyline, which was introduced in 1989.* The ''Franchise/GIJoe'' toyline (which started in 1964) is often considered as an Spear Counterpart for the ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' toyline which was available since 1959).[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* InUniverse for ''VideoGame/{{Lunar}}'': Nall (''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'') - Ruby (''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'')* [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Lubba]] to [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]].* [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Bunnelby and Diggersby]] (normal-looking rabbit which evolves into larger, very masculine rabbit) to [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Buneary and Lopunny]] (normal-looking rabbit which evolves into larger, very feminine rabbit).* Sean Matsuda from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' to Sakura Kasugano from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha''. Both are teenage {{Shotoclone}}s, as well as the apprentices of Ryu and Ken (though Sakura is an unofficial pupil of Ryu's).* ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'' is essentially this to ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection''; they're both free-to-play browser {{Card Battle Game}}s hosted on the same website, but ''Touken Ranbu'''s characters are [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys male]] [[MoeAnthropomorphism personifications]] of historically famous Japanese swords rather than [[ImprobablyFemaleCast female]] [[MoeAnthropomorphism personifications]] of Japanese WWII battleships.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]* The WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad has a set of Spear Counterparts in the Four Gregs, though it's not quite as blatant (there's not an easy match-up of personalities, for example).[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* The three main characters of WebVideo/WhereTheBearsAre are very clearly patterned off of Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose from TheGoldenGirls. Nelson is generally level-headed but has his neurotic moments, especially where Todd is concerned (Dorothy). Reggie is a well-connected writer and is the horniest of the bunch (Blanche). Wood's sweetness is only outdone by his stupidity (Rose). [[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* As mentioned above, Ultra-Prison was a Distaff Counterpart to WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}. Alice had her very own Spear Counterpart in Bruce.* WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls <=> Rowdy Ruff Boys* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':** Lois becomes very aggressive in "Lethal Weapons", especially in bed; Peter becomes very feminine in "I am Peter, Hear me Roar".** "The Courtship of Stewie's Father"; "Stewie Loves Lois".* ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' -- ''WesternAnimation/GoDiegoGo''* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Pinkie Pie gets her own Spear Counterpart, Cheese Sandwich, who is every bit the excited, hyper party pony she is. And also happens to be Music/WeirdAlYankovic in pony form.* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has Prince Gumball for Princess Bubblegum, and Marshall Lee the Vampire King for Marceline the Vampire Queen. Another episode also had one for the Lumpy Space Princess.* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooLegendOfThePhantosaur'' introduced [[http://scoobydoo.wikia.com/wiki/Winsor Winsor]], a graduate student who eerily resembles Velma.* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'': in "[[Recap/LittlestPetShop2012S2E6TheTreasureOfHenriettaTwombly The Treasure of Henrietta Twombly]]" we see the [[AlphaBitch Biskit Twins]]' ancestors the Biskit Brothers, who look and sound exactly like their descendants, except they have facial hair.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* The perception of our own body images. It's fairly common knowledge that girls are more easily suspectible to eating disorders such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulimia_nervosa bulimia]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosa anorexia nervosa]] in an attempt to lose weight because they think they are [[HollywoodPudgy too fat]]. Less commonly known is that the opposite generally holds true for guys, who try to get bigger instead. In the belief that they are [[MuscleAngst too skinny or scrawny]] some will almost obsessively work out and eat a lot of food in order to put on more weight (in the form of muscle mass). This tends to happen more often to those who are already perceived as being very physically fit or muscular, and is known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_dysmorphia muscle dysmorphia]] or, appropriately, reverse anorexia. Both are essentially nasty side-effects of the way our modern media portrays the ideal body figure for both women and men.[[/folder]]